I decided to use a debit card to pay my bill, so i called. I decided to talk to a human. Bad decision, it's a $3.95 "Payment Assistance Fee!"

I hate to hear stuff like that. I just made the switch to the dark side from Qwest/DirecTV. I did it largely to get the Blazer games as it doesn't look like anything's going to be resolved to get the games on the other providers. The one bonus is that the phone/net/tv services are about $50 cheaper than the same for Qwest, but the switch was made with unclear conscience because of the way Comcast Sportsnet has railroaded a lot of the NW sports broadcasts and left a lot of fans throughout the region out in the cold.

Most outfits that allow you to make a payment over the phone will charge you some sort of fee. Otherwise, just imagine if their entire base of customers decided to pay over the phone?

I think I remember the backlash when they started that a couple of years ago. The O published a lopsided article that was definitely pro-decision that said 'they're a business, they're entitled to do this.'
Did they tell you about the fee before they processed the payment? I believe you have the right to know about the fee upfront and decline the service based on the fee.

i will just log on to comcast.com and pay it there!